COVID-19 Update

Southern California

As an update in regards to the changing developments regarding COVID-19, our team would like to provide an update on the latest policies in measures in place to ensure a safe, collaborative environment. Our team is practicing the following guidelines:

Environmental Cleaning: We are maintaining a strict adherence to our environmental cleaning schedules and procedures. We are using EPA registered products with known germicidal action against SARS-COVID-19.

Employee and Staff Risk Assessment, Monitoring, and Work Restrictions: Our staff is regularly monitoring themselves for fever and symptoms of respiratory infection. Employees will be reminded to stay home when they are ill. All employees will be screened at the beginning of their shift for fever and respiratory symptoms. Nonessential personnel will also be restricted from entering the agency site.

Education: The staff is trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of COVID-19. In addition, procedures will be followed in the event that an illness is reported in a patient or staff.

Standard Precautions: Standard precautions are implemented for all patients regardless of condition of infection status. Standard precautions include hand hygiene and cough etiquette, as well as the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when exposure to blood and/or bodily fluids is likely.

Transmission-Based Precautions: Transmission-based precautions are implemented when a patient develops signs and symptoms of a transmissible or communicable infection (“suspected case”), or has tested positive for a communicable infection by a laboratory (“confirmed case”). Transmission-based precautions are additional measures taken to protect healthcare workers and patients. Depending on how the infection is spread, one or more o fthe following precautions may be implemented:

Contact Precautions – Environmental cleaning, hand hygiene and the proper use of PPE are all important for contact precautions.

Droplet Precautions – Masks, gowns, gloves and goggles should be worn during procedures that expose healthcare personnel or patients to splashes or sprays of secretions.

Airborne Precautions – Airborne precautions are implemented to prevent transmission of pathogens that are small and can be transmitted long distances through the air. Precautions will include a room with specialized air handling and the use of N95 respirators that filter small particles by anyone entering the room.

For current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the US see: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html

For global case numbers reported by the World Health Organization, see: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/global-covid-19/world-map.html

For a current CDC Situation Summary, see: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html